Harry Luther Hicks, Jr., 93, Resident of Lorain Since 1942

He was born September 23, 1912 in Corinth, West Virginia. He graduated from Georges Township High School in Pennsylvania with the class of 1932. He had been a resident of Lorain since 1942.

From the time Harry was a child, he was always working to earn money and as a teenager, took on role of provider by always working a garden and raising various animals to eat and sell. At age 16, he was a volunteer firefighter and helped fight forest fires in the mountains. During high school he played community baseball, football, and trumpet in the marching band. As a young man, he was a member of the Civilian Conservation Corp and worked various jobs to earn money in Pennsylvania.

On the day Pearl Harbor was bombed in 1942, he moved his wife and four boys to Lorain, Ohio. While in Ohio, he learned burning and welding by working at the steel mill and working on ships at the shipyard during the war. He had various other jobs which included assembling tractors and working on big cranes at Thew Shovel in Lorain; owning and operating his own gas station; working as a mechanic on machinery and delivery trucks at Spang Bakery; owning and operating Harry’s Grocery in Lorain and Elberta Store and Grocery in Vermilion; and working for ten years as a maintenance man for the North Olmsted, Rocky River, and Bay Village School Systems. His last job was with Crown Steel in Lorain for over ten years, retiring at age 72.

He enjoyed talking about past experiences and jobs; joking and teasing with his family; going to fleas markets and auctions; cooking; gardening; traveling back home to Pennsylvania and West Virginia; fixing and colleting antique cars; and his grandma’s sorghum molasses cookies.

Survivors include his sons Donald Lee Hicks of LaGrange, Robert Bruce Hicks of Lorain, William Roger Hicks of Enola, Pennsylvania, and Larry Hicks of Amherst; his daughters Elnora Marie Woods and Elaine Margaret Hall, both of Amherst, and Laura Belle Swords of Lorain; his former wife of 57 years Beulah Marie Hicks (nee: Fraley); 28 grandchildren; 36 great grandchildren; six great great grandchildren; and his brother Ewing Franklin Hicks of Woodville, Alabama.

He was preceded in death by his sons Daniel Hicks and Charles Calvin Hicks; by his parents Harry Luther, Sr. and Ida Mae Hicks (nee: Wilson); and by his sisters Mary, Florence, Sara, and Goldie.

Friends may call Friday, July 7, 2006, from 2-4 p.m. and 6-8 p.m. at the Hempel Funeral Home; 373 Cleveland Ave., Amherst. Funeral services will be held Saturday, July 8, 2006, at 10:30 a.m. from the funeral home. The Rev. Jack Ison, pastor of Fellowship Baptist Church in Lorain, will officiate. Burial will be in Ridge Hill Memorial Park, Amherst Township.

Arrangements are being handled by Hempel Funeral Home; 373 Cleveland Ave., Amherst, OH 44001.